PIQUA — The second meeting of second seeded Troy Christian and third seeded Cedarville in a Piqua D-IV district semifinal Friday night was much the same as the first.

The Eagles opened a big lead by halftime and cruised to a 68-52 win over the Indians — who Troy Christian had beaten 69-48 in the regular season meeting.

Troy Christian, 23-2, will play in a D-IV district final at the University of Dayton Arena Saturday, with the time and opponent to be determined. The Eagles will play the winner of the Miami Valley Christian-Lockland game, which will be played Tuesday.

Cedarville closed the season at 19-6.

And it was a family trend in the Eagles win. While the lid was on the basket early for both teams, once Troy Christian got the transition game going, it was off to the races.

The opening quarter was closely play, but a Frank Rupnik 3-pointer to close the quarter put the Eagles up 15-8.

In the second quarter, Troy Christian began to open things up.

After a basket by Alex Free, Christian Brusman and Ethan Grise made consecutive threes in transition to open the lead to 23-10.

Rupnik would hit a 3-pointer later in the quarter to double the score on Cedarville to 28-14.

Grise would add another three in transition to make the score 34-15 and the half closed with Troy Christian in front 36-18.

Troy Christian would hit seven 3-pointers in the game and led 55-35 after three quarters and went on to the win.

Parker Penrod led the Eagles with 18 points, five rebounds and six assists.

Rupnik added 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots and Free would score 13 points and hand out three assists.

Brusman had 10 points and three assists and Grise scored 10 points.

Brayden Criswell led Cedarville with 20 points and Mason Johnson scored 18 points.

Tyler Cross added seven points.

Troy Christian was 22 of 45 from the floor for 49 percent, including seven of 19 from 3-point range for 37 percent. The Eagles made 17 of 23 free throws for 74 percent, grabbed 24 rebounds and had 12 turnovers.

Russia 63,

Newton 16

TROY — In a Troy D-IV district semifinals, Newton ran into a buzzsaw in top seeded Russia.

The Raiders opened a 46-9 halftime lead and cruised to the win.

Newton finished the season with a 15-10 record.

SATURDAY

Brookville 51,

Miami East 48

VANDALIA — The Miami East boys basketball team battled to the end before falling to the fifth seeded Blue Devils Saturday in Vandalia D-III sectional action.

Brookville improved to 18-6 with the win, while Miami East closed the season at 16-9.

It was the final game in amazing career with Viking senior Jacob Roeth, who finishes as the school’s all-time leader in scoring, assists and steals and third in rebounds.

And it was Roeth at the end, trying to provide the miracle comeback for the Vikings.

After Jace Wood hit two free throws to put Brookville up 51-45 with 18.7 seconds to go, Roeth hit a 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds to go make it a one possession game at 51-48.

Brookville tried for a long inbounds pass, but Roeth made a leaping interception near mid-court. His off-balance shot to send the game to overtime was just off the mark.

Miami East had jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game when Roeth hit a 3-pointer and Devon Abshire followed with two baskets.

Brookville had pulled even before a basket by Ty Rohrer gave East a 12-10 lead going to the second quarter.

The Blue Devils would score the first seven points of the second quarter to open the lead, but a basket by Roeth to end the half closed East within 24-22.

East was down by as much as nine in the third quarter.

But, a basket by Rohrer would get the Vikings within 36-33 and Roeth was fouled on a 3-point attempt with .7 seconds left in the quarter. He hit all three free throws to tie the game at 36-36.

A Roeth basket had put East up 38-37 early in the fourth quarter, but Brookville opened a 48-40 lead and the Vikings could never catch up.

Roeth led all scorers with 23 points and added five assists and three steals.

Rohrer scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds, Connor Apple had eight points, five rebounds and three assists and Abshire had eight points.

Wood paced Brookville with 22 points.

Dominic King scored 10 points, Brendan Fisher had seven points and Cole Crabtree and Braeden Smart both scored six points.

Miami East was 18 for 50 from the floor for 36 percent, including four of 15 on 3-pointers for 27 percent. The Vikings made eight of 13 free throws for 62 percent.

Brookville was 18 of 35 from the floor for 51 percent, including six of 15 from long range for 40 percent. The Blue Devils converted nine of 15 free throws for 60 percent.

Miami East won the battle of the boards 23-20 and had 10 turnovers to Brookville’s 14.

Dunbar 49,

Tippecanoe 46

TROTWOOD — The Tippecanoe boys basketball season came to a heartbreaking end Saturday night in Trotwood D-II sectional action.

The Red Devils tied at 46 in the final minute, but the Wolverines scored the final three points.

Tippecanoe finished the season with a 21-3 record.

Tipp had trailed 12-9 after one quarter 23-20 at halftime. The Red Devils pulled even at 38-38 after three quarters.

Jackson Smith led Tippecanoe with 23 points.

Sports Editor Rob Kiser can be reached at [email protected]